Hello again my friends, and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!

WorldCup4James has prepared an excellent introduction to the problem of reserves and replacing missing players. He also is again covering Join This? Or Not! As for my own contribution, I had a chance to interview IcePack this weekend, and I hope you enjoy the results.

DaveH has another installment in his excellent Dave's Tips series. This is number 18 if you're keeping track! Pursuant to a suggestion by greenoaks, we will soon publish the complete Dave's archive in their entirety in some publically-accessible place (probably Tournament Q&A) so you can go through them step-by-step without needing to search through old newsletter issues.

In the next issue, we expect to have an article by our newest reporter, woopintroysbutt! We are also still looking for another new reporter, one who will cover the TPA beat. If you're a TPA enthusiast, please give this some thought!

It's one of those revolutionary moments, a walk in the park or reflective late night in the city; you've come up with an idea for a tournament. You've established the maps and settings, and perfected the format. Everything is flawless.

Sadly, regardless how hard you work, sometimes players just go missing, for an infinitesimal number of reasons. Just like war has its "missing in action", so too do our virtual wars of risk-taking tournaments. Luck favors the prepared, so if you're prepared with an effective and appropriate reserve policy, you'll ensure a steady, flowing tournament and minimize down-time when players fail to accept invites, and vanish.

You make the call

The Conquer Club Tournament Handbook does not require tournaments to include an explicit section on how organizers will deal with players who fail to accept invites and otherwise slow the pace of play. In other words, you, as organizer, are free to act as you please without providing any rules how you will do so.

Many players do appreciate organizers that are up front with all the angles of tournament execution. Therefore, it would not hurt to include a basic reserve policy, how you will react to players who don't join games. For instance, many organizers include how much time players have to join games.

How much time is appropriate?

The Handbook states that organizers must allot players

at least 24 hours to join their games

There are two basic ways of evaluating how much time you will allow. On the one hand, Conquer Club is designed for the casual gamer, so, as Tournament Director mcshanester29 argues, you should "give at least 48 hours." This lenient approach also is generally friendly to players who alert the organizer if they will miss invites, so that grace time can be given. After all, as organizer you probably won't be sitting around with a timer counting down the seconds until 24 or 48 hours pass; the deadline is loose.

On the other hand, a strict approach may presumably be more fair to all the players, as you'll be consistent and not give extra time to some players and not to others. Removing players quickly after an exact number of invites also optimizes the length of the tournament so that it can finish as quickly as possible.

As organizer, it's your choice what position you'll take. You may want to describe this in the Rules and be consistent in however you deal with missing players.

Consider the Timing

Both mcshanester29 and IcePack, who both are very active in the tournament world, also maintain that it depends on what stage the tournament is in to determine if a reserve is necessary. You might want to call for a reserve particularly late in the tournament and when nearly all other games are already finished in a round. It does seem like common sense to not hold the tournament back because of one player missing invites. The same stands true if the tournament is lagging; then, as IcePack asserts, "there is no need realistically to be strict."

Again, you are the organizer and therefore it is your choice whether you want a clear rule to be in place at all times or if you want a flexible policy where decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Stock up on the precious resource: reserve players

As the Tournament Handbook suggests, it's a good idea to wait an extra day or two once the tournament is full for any late stragglers to join. Organizers should

accept some reserves (2-5 depending on the size of your tourney) just in case someone drops out or deadbeats

This way, you will not have to create additional posts in the Play-Now thread. By the time a player reads your post and signs up, precious days will have passed.

By having a list of reliable reserves at the very beginning of the tournament, all you'll have to do is send a quick message to one of these players, send the invites, and that's that!

It can be exciting having one of your tournaments ready to go; just hold your horses, hold onto your britches and plan ahead.

Thus, for aspiring organizers out there, these are some of the key aspects you'll want to consider on how you'll react to that fateful, nightmare moment, when the word "Empty" pops up in your tournament games. As long as you have thought of your basic ideology on dealing with absences (lenient and flexible, or strict), your tourney will be just fine!

IcePack has seven completed tournaments to his credit, and two more currently on the go. He is known for being creative, ambitious, and outspoken. This weekend I was able to have a quick Q&A with him.

Dukasaur: IcePack, what attracts you to tournament building?IcePack: I like coming up with unique concepts that players enjoy. On my part, I enjoy participating just as much as running tournaments, though I have a lot of tournament formats that are made that need to be dusted off and actually **used**.

DK: Of the tournaments you've run so far, which one is your favorite, and why?IP:Breaking Thru Ice (First Edition) received a tonne of great feedback, people asking to "borrow" the concept, and at the time was pretty original. Everyone seemed excited to be a part of it, and by far of the tournaments I've run in the past, this was the most exciting.

DK: The one that sticks out in my mind is the Icey League Season 1 tournament. How is that going? Is there going to be a Season 2, and what things will change?IP: Wow. This tournament was a big undertaking! I had to bring in chapcrap to help me out as it required a lot of organization and time to create the games. Its going well, we are about to enter in the 6th Round and most everyone seems to enjoy the slow but fun pace it has set. There will likely be a Season 2, which may end up a little shorter than the original and will benefit from all the organizational tools we created for Season 1 that we didn't have in the first round.

DK: The first time I ever noticed you in the tournament forums, you were having a fairly public spat with the TDs about not letting you run a large-team tournament. With the passage of time, have you come to accept that they were right, and that people shouldn't run large tournaments until they've had some practice with small ones? IP: The jury is still out on exactly whether or not they were right . However, I think we all benefited from the discussion. As an avid online gamer, I still feel there are some people who are perfectly capable of running a large team (or any variety) of tournament on CC successfully. The restrictions definitely dampened my initial "fire" that was burning to create something unique and fun. But, in the end I will still be able to, just a year or two down the road from when I initially had the idea.

DK: A while ago you seemed to be online very little, and I was worried that the tournament world would lose you, but now you seem to be online a lot more again. Is this a long-term trend, or just a statistical anomaly?IP: I didn't think anyone would notice! But really, from the later part of last year thru this spring I had a lot of big life changes going on. I am back full time, re-energized and have a few new tournaments I will be running this year. So, all is not lost.

DK: You seem really excited about Breaking Through Ice II. How is that going?IP: I am! This is the second edition of my favorite tournament to date. It's going well, the first round went as I anticipated it would (about the same as last edition). With a few other tweaks to the map list, I feel it should get interesting as we get closer to the end! I like to provide myself with a challenge, and love 1 vs 1 so this tournament does exactly that. Last year HighlanderAttack seemed to have it clinched early on, he went 5-0 in the first half of the tournament only to go 0-5 the last half! arno30 won the inaugural Tournament, by going 7-3. Very Impressive! I hope to have the same quality of opponents and challenge this go around, its a lot of fun.

DK: In addition to seven Tournament Contribution medals, you also have three Tournament wins. Tell me about some of those, please.IP: Indeed! I enjoy a good tournament, but have only graced the winners circle 3 times. All were exciting! My first tournament win was a triples competition on Classic map. My team (IcePack, Link0983, Odeuminus) won in an exciting tie breaker round. One pit Riskmaster101 vs everyone on a series of maps, in which I was crowned GOD. This was probably the most exciting win for me, as I enjoy a good 1 vs 1 round! The third was a 1 vs 1 tournament on one of my new favorite maps, London!

DK: What's the next step? Are you ready to release any details of your next tournament?IP: Not quite! I have several that are "ready to go" but the one I'm most excited about I'm working on refining some of the details and scoring based on estimates I see in "practice" tournaments. I try to ensure all the details of my tournaments work out smoothly before releasing them so there aren't any issues once they are started!

DK: What are some of the changes you'd like to see in the Tournament world specifically, and on CC in general?IP: While I understand their desire to see things be all inclusive and to ensure lower ranked players aren't left out, I'd love to be able to control a little more of who can join and play in my tournaments sometimes. I also feel a more "friendly" atmosphere would go a long way, in many areas of CC. Sometimes I'm a little shocked / surprised at the responses I get here, compared with other gaming sites. A huge difference in overall mentality. In general, I'd really like to see CC step up and help grow the site into what it could be, there are a lot of good suggestions waiting to be implemented.

DK: What is pickpawcket, what is your involvement in it, and why are you displaying a broken link to it on your profile?IP: Haha, well thank you for letting me know the link was broken! It should be fixed (It's fixed.)Pickpawcket and Go Native! are two iTunes app store games, that are pretty unique. Go Native! is a trivia game where you compete vs other live players in multiple choice trivia, and you try to guess with the majority! Pickpawcket is a Top 25 puzzle game featured by Apple, about the worlds sneakiest cat burglar. You have several missions to complete, in which you must get past dogs, security systems, and other fun puzzles to get the very unique cat paintings the dogs stole! Both are featured games of the Loopycube group, of which I'm not directly apart of but strongly support. They create fantastic games for the app store, and are about to release their newest product shortly!

In previous articles I have shown how macros can be used to automate tournament results updating. These macros were accessed by a button, but they can also be accessed from a new Excel menu and in this article I'll show how you can customize your menu task bar to include sub-menus that run different macros.

The coding looks rather complex, so the best way of getting to know what is happening is to install a new menu bar and then you can more easily see what is happening. OK lets start Excel and carry out the following sequence:

* Create a new spreadsheet;* Press Alt+F11 from Excel which opens the Visual Basic Editor window;* In the top left pane you get "VBAProject (Book1)";* Open the menu and sub-menu by clicking the [+] buttons;* Click "ThisWorkbook" to open a new window on the right;* Copy the following code and paste into the blank window;

* On the "Run" menu, click on "Run Sub./UserForm" (or press F5);* On the Spreadsheet a new menu heading appears "My Macros";* Clicking this opens up the menu to reveal three new sub-menus, each with pictures next to them.

OK, so let's look into the coding:-

.Caption = "&My Macros" ; Your main menu title can be inserted here;The sub menus are defined by the following set of code lines;With .Controls.Add(Type:=msoControlButton); This "With/End With" set of codes adds a new sub-menu;.Caption = "My Macro No 1"; Sub-menu title.OnAction = "RunMyMacro1"; Assign the macro name here;.FaceId = 1098; Adds a nice little picture (try changing the number!)End With

This set of 5 code lines are repeated as many times as you need sub-menus.

If you want to see more pictures - there are hundreds! - you can download a browser to look through these icons at http://skp.mvps.org/faceid.htm. Have fun!

(These "tips" are ones that I have tried to make it a bit easier in managing my own tournaments. I am sure there are different and better methods than these, so please let me know. Any queries on the above I'll be glad to respond to! Please note that I use Excel 2003, so there may be variation in the menu instructions if you have Excel 2007)

Here we have another round of top-notch tourneys still hungry for players. These are the ones that stand out most, though you can certainly check out all the many tournaments available for your pleasure and leisure!

2004/2005 UEFA Champions LeagueIf the ongoing, "real world" UEFA Football Euro Cup isn't enough for you, why not relive the glory of Liverpool's first Champions League victory? Pick from thirty-two of football's most classic teams, select the map and settings of your choice, and endure strenuous round-robin and knockout 1v1 play! There's not too many spots remaining in Benzorrr's tournament; don't miss out football (soccer ) fans!

CCSOP: Conquer Club Series of PokerHave a poke at some poker: Conquer Club style! crazymilkshake5 invites "noobs and pros alike" to set off with 1,000 chips in search of Vegas-style victory! In this very interactive tournament, you'll have options to check, call, fold, raise, the whole nine yards as in real poker, while having the opportunity to play on nearly every CC map! Signups only last for two weeks so not much time is left!

The Eras: Dawning and Discoverynolefan5311 gives you the opportunity to progress through the history of civilization in his eight-tournament series. Join in one of eight groups befitting the theme of the era of mankind; from Egypt to Gilgamesh in Dawning and 13 Colonies to High Seas in Discovery. After the long trek through the story of humanity, the eight winners from all eight tournaments will fight to the death in the grand finale!

Fastest Finisher I"Slowly but surely" won't do it in rjhankey's 1v1 tournament. Be smart in choosing the perfect map that not only ensures that you'll win, but also that you win in the fewest number of rounds! Doodle Earth and Luxembourg fans, have at it ! There's just a couple spots still open; be swift!

Genghis Khan (Quadruples)Grab some of your friends and sign up for RUBENIUSSS' bracket-style Quads tournament on Eurasia. "East against West" is the theme; do you have what it takes to be Genghis Khan?

If you're craving tourney action now, check out the Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum. You can be playing very quickly after signing up as a reserve.

If you would like to apply to join the Tournament News Team, PM Tournament Executive, Dukasaur!

Submitting Your Own Articles

If you have a story for the Tournament section you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to Dukasaur and you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!

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